Concentrated liquids can be used to decrease the size of packaging needed to supply a desired quantity of end result product. Concentrated liquids, however, can include concentrated amounts of dye so that after mixing, the resulting product has the desired coloring. These dyes can stain surfaces, such as clothes, skin, etc., if they come into contact with the surfaces. Due to this, a container storing a concentrated liquid is undesirable if it allows the liquid concentrate to drip or otherwise leak from the container in an uncontrolled manner. One form of container releases a stream of liquid out of an opening when squeezed by a user. When this type of container is utilized to store a concentrated liquid, at least two problems can occur. First, due to the staining problem discussed above, if the concentrated liquid is squeezed from a first container into a second container having a liquid therein, undesirable splashing can occur when the stream of concentrated liquid impacts the liquid in the second container. This splashed material can then stain the surrounding surfaces, as well as the clothes and skin of a user. Additionally, unlike use of squeeze containers storing contents where the amount of material being dispensed can be visually assessed, such as a ketchup or mustard bottle, when dispensing a liquid concentrate into another liquid, it can be difficult for a user to assess how much concentrated liquid has been dispensed in order to achieve the desired end mixture. Yet another problem can occur as the level of concentrated liquid remaining in the container is reduced during repeated uses. In this situation, the amount of concentrated liquid dispensed using the same squeeze force can disadvantageously change significantly as the liquid concentrate level changes within the container.
Liquids, including concentrated liquids, can also be susceptible to spoilage by a variety of microbial agents, particularly if packaged in a container intended for extended shelf life. Reducing food spoilage and increasing shelf life of packaged foods in the past has often involved various combinations of heat, pressure, irradiation, ultrasound, refrigeration, natural and artificial antimicrobial/preservative compositions, and the like. Any useful antimicrobial process or composition can target food specific spoilage agents and minimize its effect on the food products themselves. Prior attempts have used various combinations of preservatives and pasteurization. Current trends in the art seek to reduce the amount of preservatives in food products. Pasteurization adds processing steps and added expense and energy usage to heat the compositions to pasteurizing levels.
Some attempts are known in the art to use acidic combinations since a low pH can have an antimicrobial effect. Nevertheless, for many beverages there is a difficult balance between the high acidity for desired microbial inhibition and an optimum acidity for the desired beverage flavor and stability. See generally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,703,056 to Mehansho. Some attempts include a balance of pH and alcohol such as disclosed in JP 2000295976 to Nakamura. Nakamura discloses antimicrobial formulations for acidic drinks having ethyl alcohol. But the Nakamura compositions also include emulsifiers and propylene glycol. Nakamura discloses acidic drink compositions that suppress crystallization of sucrose fatty acid ester. Nakamura does not disclose compositions having a pH less than 3.5, nor does it address shelf stable concentrates for acidic drinks.